Posted this on SP but nothing so far. Thought I'd try here. Also I read the thread on Hood so if you already said it there (thanks!), no need to post again for my benefit. I'll try cascadeclimbers as well.

I'm looking for a route recommendation for Hood or Adams (flying into Portland) over Labor Day weekend. Steep snow and easy-to-moderate ice. Would prefer a glacier route and will not be bringing rock pro.

Did Fuhrer Finger on Rainier that time last year and dealt with rockfall (mostly due to a late start), rotten snow, and messy glaciers. I figure that's par for the course by September.

I have not been on Hood for a couple months so not sure what it is like but it looks like junk from Portland, there may be some routes on the North Side but would guess they have little to no snow left. My cut off on Hood is the first of June due to crowds and routes going bad, I have done it in late August several times but it was always ugly, not worth the effort.

Adams should be fairly good, the south side is a walk up with some "steep" snow, I guess it depends on your view of steep. The south side does not have any hazards to speak of so you do not need any gear and going solo is not bad, if you move right a long you can round trip the thing in 8-10 hours. There are some other routes on the west and north side but I am not sure I would go by myself as they are a bit remote and not traveled much.

The Sister area has some fair hiking/climbing this time of year, may not be a lot of snow left on some of the hills and once again the good climbs that are left should not be done solo, not that they are that difficult but they do have hazards and are remote. You could RT the Middle Sisiter in 10 hours give or take a bit (depending on which TH you take)and is a nice hike /climb.

I am assuming you are going solo, if you have someone to go with you MT Baker and Mt Shuksan can be good this time of year, however they are a 5-6 hour drive from Portland and even if you move along they can take 10- 14 hours to round trip.

Thanks! I found some trip reports from climbs of Mazama Glacier Headwall on the 20th, so I'm thinking that's what we'll do (my dad is joining me) unless Klickitat looks doable when we get there. Folks are soloing MGH but we'll bring a rope anyway for practice.

Not too sure about what is good on either of those mountains that time of the year, but I did climb a little bit on the upper Mazama glacier last year (May; off route) and that is a pretty cool route. The White Salmon glacier looks fun too. The Mazama and White Salmon both look like fun glacier routes. When I went, we went up the south ridge to upper Mazama glacier, and rode down the southwest chutes (good spring route, probably not what you want to do in August). I would second the north side suggestion for Hood (Maybe Cooper Spur?). I did it from the south side in spring as a snowboard descent. That time of the year I would think you would need to stay on the north side of the mountain to find much snow.I have spent some time mountaineering in the PNW but not on the particular routes you are looking at. Feel free to PM me though if you think I can help you anymore.

"May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view. May your mountains rise into and above the clouds." Edward Abbey...

We ended up climbing the Mazama Headwall. Had Sunrise Camp and the route to ourselves and found continuous snow to the summit (with a variation on the final slope). The headwall was very easy due to suncups. We glissaded down the standard route and cut back across Mazama just above the Lunch Counter.